The Canterbury Railway Society is an organisation of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

enthusiasts based in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

region of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, best known for their operation of The Ferrymead Railway at the

Ferrymead Heritage Park Ferrymead Heritage Park is a museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, housing groups with historical themes, mainly transport related. Formerly known as Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in 1964 by groups, local government bodies and other i ...

Beginnings

The Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society was formed in the late 1950s. In its early years, one of its major activities was in the operation of passenger excursions on the

national rail network In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. F ...

, then operated by the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

. In that era, there were far more excursion trains than there are today, and far more railway lines in general, including the many

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

s that were closed in the 1960s and 1970s. Steam traction was used in the

for longer than in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and a variety of motive power could be found on any of these trains. Aside from a handful of locomotives placed on public display, little thought up to this time had been given to any serious notion of rail preservation. The catalyst proved to be the wholesale scrapping of steam traction which began in the mid 1950s and continued until 1971 when the last J^A class locomotives were withdrawn from the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

. In addition at this time, a large number of branch lines were closed and ripped up, and some of the earliest preservation efforts were based on these closed lines, while others took advantage of the opportunity to obtain cheap supplies of recovered rail materials for use elsewhere. The idea of becoming involved in railway preservation in New Zealand did not become a reality for any group in New Zealand until the 1960s, when New Zealand Railways accelerated the pace of

dieselisation Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...

, resulting in wholesale scrapping of its steam locomotive fleet. At that time, there was a nationwide move to save railway equipment which resulted in the large-scale purchase of locomotives and rolling stock and the establishment of the major preservation sites in New Zealand.

Ferrymead Railway

The Ferrymead Railway has been the main project of the Canterbury branch since 1964. The railway has been established on the historical site of New Zealand's first public railway which opened in 1863 and closed in 1867. Work on the site had progressed sufficiently far by 1972 to allow train running to begin, and the railway officially opened in 1977. It was the major focus of 1988's Rail 125 commemorations, a celebration of 125 years of railways in New Zealand, and it has hosted numerous local events since, often in conjunction with the Ferrymead Heritage Park or other rail preservation societies.

Other activities

As noted above, excursion trains were a major early activity of the Canterbury branch. It also held monthly members' meetings, often on railway premises, and organised special conventions and festivals. In the diesel era, the most notable of these was the aforementioned Rail 125. Passenger shuttle services and excursions operated daily throughout the week of this festival, which was attended by locomotives, rolling stock and railfans from all around the country. Following the reintroduction of excursions to the NZR mainline in the late 1970s, the branch or individual members operated a number of diesel hauled trains, and were well placed to take advantage of the reintroduction of mainline steam in the mid 1980s. Changes in New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society (NZRLS) membership rules in 1984 resulted in the elimination of membership of Local Branches of the NZRLS. When the requirement for full membership of the parent society began to be enforced there was a move for the Canterbury Branch to follow the lead of the former

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

branches and form a separate Society. Constitutional amendments were passed in 1990 which resulted in the branch becoming the independent Canterbury Railway Society. During the 1990s, the restructuring and privatisation of New Zealand Railways had a major impact upon the activities of many rail societies. Excursion train costs rose substantially and the number of such trains operated annually dropped off dramatically. Such trains then became mainly the preserve of two or three larger organisations with their own passenger carriage and/or locomotive fleets. Changes in employment law and working patterns for most New Zealand citizens resulted also in a major reduction in voluntary resources for groups all around the country. In general, this has resulted in most other activities of the Canterbury Railway Society dropping away, and the Society is now exclusively based at Ferrymead and forms most of its activities around the site.

Locomotives, railcars and rolling stock

Ex-NZR Steam locomotives

Ex-Industrial steam locomotives

NZR diesel locomotives

In addition: * In October 2013

Dunedin Railways Dunedin Railways (formerly the Taieri Gorge Railway) is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The company is a council- ...

D^J 1209 took part for the NZ Rail 150 celebrations at Ferrymead.

Electric locomotives

In addition: *In June 1998, a year after the end of the

Otira Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Otira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible meani ...

electrification

EOs In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at ...

45 and 74 were leased to the CRS for storage and display in June 1998. In November 1999 EOs 39, 51 and 68 were transferred to Ferrymead as well. 45, 68 and 74 operated at the park ark on a number of times occasions including Easter Weekend in 2000. Three of the EOs were moved to Picton in 2004 while the other two stayed until 2008.

Railcars

Electric multiple units

Carriages

In addition: *The underframe of A 272 and another unidentified 'A' car are in storage.

Vans

Gallery

Image:D Class No 140 at Ferrymead Railway.jpg, D 140 operating on the

Ferrymead Railway The Ferrymead Railway is a New Zealand heritage railway built upon the track formation of New Zealand's first public railway, from Ferrymead to Christchurch, which opened on 1 December 1863. On the opening of the line to Lyttelton on 9 December 1 ...

. Image:NZR EC class locomotive 01.JPG, E^C 7 at Moorhouse Station. Image:NZR EO class locomotive 05.JPG, E^O 3 running around a train at the

Ferrymead Ferrymead is a suburb south-east of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the main thoroughfare for reaching the eastern sea suburbs such as Sumner, as well as home to a number of cliff-top residences and businesses along the estuary front. After t ...

. Image:NZR EO 3 at Ferrymead.jpg, E^O 3 in Moorhouse. Image:NZR ED 103 at Ferrymead.jpg, E^D 103 outside the electric shed at Ferrymead. Image:NZR EW class locomotive 02.JPG, E^W 1806 in the Moorhouse station yard at the

. Image:NZR TR 156 at Ferrymead.JPG, T^R 156 at Ferrymead Station.

References

External links

Ferrymead Railway website

New Zealand Rolling Stock Register

CRS - Gallery
{{Authority control Rail transport in Christchurch Railway societies Organizations established in 1990 1990 establishments in New Zealand